"What should we do then?" In the urgency of the moment, Ajiu had completely forgotten.
"What to do? You, you, sometimes you're so quick-witted, and other times you're incredibly dull. Aren't you going back to pick it soon, or am I supposed to eat nothing?"
Wang's teeth gnashed in anger. She was stingy with spiritual water, and now she had forgotten about the spiritual fruit. She truly wished Ajiu were more capable.
Ajiu also knew it was a pity, as water was limited, and the watermelons and peaches were life-saving items.
Looking at Cai Lihua, she was holding a knife to Li Yuanwai's neck:
"I don't care, you old thing, you will produce the deed of sale today, or I'll shave your beard with this cleaver."
"Ah, no, please don't, I don't want to die." Li Yuanwai repeatedly kowtowed, tears and snot mingling with dirt on his face:
"It's... it's in my shoe."
As soon as he said this, Ajiu's head buzzed, and her face fell.
She strode forward. Cai Lihua had already taken off his shoe and retrieved the dirty, foul-smelling deed of sale.
"Good heavens, weren't you tough-mouthed?" Cai Lihua opened it, confirmed it was the deed of sale, and tore it to shreds, piece by piece.
Ajiu's steps were light. That piece of paper was her death warrant in her past life, the command from the King of Hell that took her life.
Now, seeing it utterly destroyed with her own eyes, she felt as if she had been reborn.
Tuoba Yan looked at Ajiu with heartache. He had overheard her conversation with Uncle Meng earlier.
"Ajiu, people can indeed deceive you. You don't need to be sad. Anyway, your little Yan Yan never lies,"
Tuoba Yan leaned down and whispered in Ajiu's ear.
"Mm," Ajiu pursed her lips and nodded. Tuoba Yan didn't even hide the fact that he was a ghost from her. It seemed others' words truly couldn't be trusted.
"Mother, just throw him away," Ajiu said indifferently.
She didn't want to kill anyone. Leaving the old man to fend for himself would be punishment enough.
"We'll listen to our daughter. Our daughter is kind-hearted and won't take your dog's life."
Cai Lihua swiftly and accurately cut the rope on his wrist.
Startled, Li Yuanwai fainted.
In the carriage, the informed Li family wife sighed, "This girl has such a bitter fate, being sold to this Li Yuanwai by her grandmother. Her grandmother truly wasn't human."
Zhao Di heard this and looked through the window at the small, skinny, dried-up Ajiu with pity.
"Yes, she was truly inhuman. We've traveled with the Meng brothers for over ten days and haven't heard about this. Ajiu is too pitiful. Fortunately, the Meng brothers and his wife treat this girl well."
Wang's shi, who had just climbed into the carriage, heard this and felt like cursing, but then thought, what's it to her?
Out of sight, out of mind. She picked up her basket, got out of the carriage, and walked away without a word.
"Well? In the past, the Meng brothers and his wife treated Ajiu very poorly. They would lock her in the woodshed every few days, not give her food or drink, and even hang her up and beat her. Jiu'er's mother was too gentle to protect her."
The neighbor, Li family wife, knew the details too clearly.
"Ah? It doesn't seem like it. All the way here, this couple treated Ajiu like a precious treasure. And Meng Ge, I've never seen a man so willing to be bossed around by his wife." Zhao Di gently patted the child in her arms, holding her tighter with pity.
"Perhaps they had a change of heart later. I lived next door to them at the time, and it pained me to see it."
Li family wife sighed.
As they were speaking, Ajiu climbed into the carriage and suddenly felt the space had become a little larger.
"Ajiu girl, Auntie has a handkerchief here that I've been reluctant to use," Zhao Di looked at Ajiu with doting eyes and took out a white handkerchief embroidered with lotus flowers from her embrace.
Anyone would want to dote on this girl, especially Zhao Di, now a mother, who felt even more sympathy for the unfortunate child.
"For me? Wu Shen, please keep it for yourself. Save it to wash your little brother's face. I couldn't possibly use such a clean handkerchief."
"Take it. It's made of silk. Auntie raised silkworms and wove it herself at home. The flowers are also embroidered by Auntie."
Zhao Di knew she had no valuable items to pamper this girl with.
"You raised silkworms and wove it yourself?" Ajiu's eyes lit up. Her craftsmanship was as good as that of a master craftsman in the city's embroidery shops.